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As if Febe sensed someone thinking about her, she opened her office door and ventured out to stand in the place between Haylee and Cherish. They both looked up. Haylee glanced over at Cherish, but Cherish’s eyes were trained entirely on Febe.

Did Cherish know that her entire world revolved around their boss?

“I’m going out for the rest of the day. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

“Have a safe evening, Ms. Aarts,” Cherish responded politely, ever the professional.

“See you tomorrow,” Haylee said.

Maybe she didn’t need to worry about getting Febe laid after all. Leaving work three hours early wasn’t her style. Did she have some secret tryst this afternoon? Haylee snorted at that idea. Febe was a workaholic to the core. She definitely didn’t have time for flings.

Haylee shook her head and closed her eyes as Febe left the office. She really did have to get her mind off of sex. Febe probably just had another meeting. Another glance over at Cherish showed her still watching Febe through the glass doors as the pristine woman waited for the elevator to arrive.

Did Cherish know she was in love with the boss?

four

“Get Precious in here now,” Febe barked as soon as her door opened.

Haylee looked over to Cherish’s desk, horrified to realize she still hadn’t returned from the previous errand Febe had sent her on. That meant it was up to Haylee to find the therapist and get her here as soon as possible. Which would undoubtedly not be soon enough for Febe. Haylee’s stomach filled with the nerves that were ever present in her life.

“Can I tell her why you want her?” Haylee looked up and met Febe’s stormy look.

“No. She doesn’t need to know she’s about to be fired, but if she has any brain cells left in her head, she’ll suspect exactly that.” Febe stalked toward her office, but before the door shut, she muttered, “Entitled young adults. Don’t have a clue what professionalism actually is.”

For a moment, Haylee simply stared at Febe’s closed door. Had Febe been talking about Precious or her? The rock in her stomach turned into a boulder while a lump formed in her throat. Febe hated her.

Ever since Febe’s dismissal of her idea, Haylee had noticed Febe’s patience with her had been shorter than ever. She couldn’t lose this job. She needed it. She had so many bills racking up that she couldn’t see a way out. She was drowning in collection calls and a negative bank balance.

With that in mind, Haylee picked up the phone and dialed Precious’s number. It took three attempts, Cherish’s return, and three reports typed up over the next twenty minutes before Haylee finally reached Precious.

“Ms. Aarts needs you in her office immediately.” Haylee tried as best she could to channel Cherish. Be calm. Be cool. Be collected. Don’t let Precious know anything.

“I was about to go on lunch,” Precious whined through the phone line, stretching the last word out like a musician might, but without the melodious quality. Haylee closed her eyes and let out a short, sharp breath she hoped Precious couldn’t hear. Surely Haylee didn’t sound like this to Febe, did she?

“Immediately means right now.” Haylee noticed Cherish’s head rise but didn’t allow herself to look up and meet her coworker’s gaze. “She’s already waiting, and I suggest you don’t make her wait any longer.”

“Fine.” The petulance in Precious’s tone made Haylee shake her head as she stabbed the end call button.

“Nice work,” Cherish said.

Haylee looked up, startled by the praise. But a warmth spread through her chest and into the pit of her stomach, moving that boulder just a smidge to ease up the tension.

“She was being childish.” Haylee shrugged, heat in her cheeks. How ridiculous and childish of herself to blush over the small praise from Cherish.

“And you handled it very well.” Cherish smiled, and Haylee met her eyes once more. With a nod, Cherish returned to her screen.

All right, so maybe Cherish wasn’t as big a bitch as Haylee had always thought. But still, blushing over the smallest of compliments was ridiculous. Wasn’t it? So what if it had been ages since anyone had said something nice about her? She shouldn’t be taking compliments from her coworker like it was flirting. That was a bad idea. Especially coming from Febe-obsessed Cherish.

Precious barreled in a few moments later, eyes narrowing at Febe’s door as she tried to walk directly through the two receptionists without a word to either.

Cherish jumped up, putting herself between Precious and the door, her hands out in front of her. “You can take a seat, Precious. I’ll let Ms. Aarts know you’re here.” Cherish spoke with all the icy authority she had, despite the petulance Precious had shown on the call.

Haylee’s chest tightened when Precious’s face fell. Real panic spread over her features as she took the seat for guests. Did she finally understand what was about to happen? Febe had hoped she would, so maybe this was to her advantage.

Febe made Precious wait for seven and a half minutes before she called Cherish to let Precious in. Haylee had fastidiously watched the clock. She would have been shitting herself if she’d had to wait that long to be fired. Surely by now Precious understood the gravity of the situation. Cherish sent Haylee a longing look from across the desks but said nothing as she sat, working, but poised for whatever Febe might need.

Haylee dropped her eyes to her screen and tried to focus on her work. The words filtering through from Febe’s closed door were impossible to ignore. Each time she heard Febe’s raised voice—not quite yelling, but the loudest she’d heard to date—Haylee flinched. It definitely didn’t help the uncomfortable heat in her chest that every time something about professionalism was mentioned, words like age, youth, or inexperienced quickly followed. Haylee took a deep breath, fighting the heat in her chest and the lump in her throat. She didn’t even want to think about the stinging in her eyes from tears that wanted to spill over at any moment.